Et factum est, cum audisset rex Ezechias, scidit vestimenta sua, et obvolutus est sacco, et intravit in domum Domini.

No sooner had king Ezechias heard it, than he tore his garments open, and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

Et misit Eliacim, qui erat super domum, et Sobnam scribam, et seniores de sacerdotibus, opertos saccis, ad Isaiam, filium Amos, prophetam,

Meanwhile, he sent word to the prophet Isaias, son of Amos. Eliacim, the controller of the household, and Sobna, the scribe, and some of the older priests, went on this errand.

And he sent Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias the son of Amos the prophet.

et dixerunt ad eum: Hæc dicit Ezechias: Dies tribulationis, et correptionis, et blasphemiæ, dies hæc; quia venerunt filii usque ad partum, et virtus non est pariendi.

Here is a message for thee, they said, from Ezechias. Troublous times have come upon us; times to make us mend our ways, or else blaspheme God. What remedy, when children come to the birth, and the mother has no strength to bear them?

And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

Si quomodo audiat Dominus Deus tuus verba Rabsacis, quem misit rex Assyriorum dominus suus ad blasphemandum Deum viventem et exprobrandum sermonibus quos audivit Dominus Deus tuus: leva ergo orationem pro reliquiis quæ repertæ sunt.

Unless indeed the Lord God should take cognizance of what Rabsaces has been saying, Rabsaces, who was sent here by his master, the king of Assyria, to blaspheme the living God. Surely the Lord thy God has listened to the reproaches he uttered. Raise thy voice, then, in prayer for the poor remnant that is left.

It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.

Et venerunt servi regis Ezechiæ ad Isaiam.

Thus visited by the servants of Ezechias,

And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias.

Et dixit ad eos Isaias: Hæc dicetis domino vestro: Hæc dicit Dominus: Ne timeas a facie verborum quæ audisti, quibus blasphemaverunt pueri regis Assyriorum me.

Isaias answered, Give your master this message. Do not be dismayed, the Lord says, at hearing the blasphemies which the courtiers of the Assyrian king have uttered against me.

And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.

Ecce ego dabo ei spiritum, et audiet nuntium, et revertetur ad terram suam, et corruere eum faciam gladio in terra sua.

See if I do not put him in such a mind, see if I do not make him hear such news, as will send him back to his own country. And when he reaches his own country, I will give the word, and the sword shall make an end of him.

Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.

Reversus est autem Rabsaces, et invenit regem Assyriorum præliantem adversus Lobnam: audierat enim quia profectus esset de Lachis.

And now Rabsaces went back to find the king of the Assyrians before Lobna, hearing that he had raised the siege of Lachis.

And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.

Et audivit de Tharaca rege Æthiopiæ, dicentes: Egressus est ut pugnet contra te. Quod cum audisset, misit nuntios ad Ezechiam, dicens:

News had come that Taracha, king of the Ethiopians, was on his way to do battle with him. And the king, when he heard the report, despatched messengers to Ezechias;

And he heard say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:

Hæc dicetis Ezechiæ regi Judæ, loquentes: Non te decipiat Deus tuus in quo tu confidis, dicens: Non dabitur Jerusalem in manu regis Assyriorum.

Give this warning, he said, to Ezechias, king of Juda. Do not let the God in whom thou puttest such confidence deceive thee with false hopes, telling thee that Jerusalem will never be allowed to fall into the hands of the Assyrian king.

Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.

Ecce tu audisti omnia quæ fecerunt reges Assyriorum omnibus terris, quas subverterunt: et tu poteris liberari?

What, hast thou not heard what the kings of Assyria have done to the nations everywhere, destroying them utterly? And what hope hast thou of deliverance?

Behold thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou be delivered?

Numquid eruerunt eos dii gentium quos subverterunt patres mei, Gozam, et Haram, et Reseph, et filios Eden qui erant in Thalassar?

What saving power had the gods of those old peoples my fathers overthrew, Gozam, and Haram, and Repheth, and the race of Eden who lived in Thalassar?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar?

Ubi est rex Emath, et rex Arphad, et rex urbis Sepharvaim, Ana, et Ava?

Where are they, the kings of Emath, and Arphad, the kings who governed the city of Sepharvaim, and Ana, and Ava?

Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?

Et tulit Ezechias libros de manu nuntiorum, et legit eos, et ascendit in domum Domini, et expandit eos Ezechias coram Domino:

These despatches were handed by the messengers to Ezechias, and when he had read them, he went up into the house of the Lord, and held them out open in the Lord’s presence.

And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread it before the Lord.

et oravit Ezechias ad Dominum, dicens:

And this was the prayer which Ezechias made to the Lord:

And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying:

Domine exercituum, Deus Israël, qui sedes super cherubim, tu es Deus solus omnium regnorum terræ: tu fecisti cælum et terram.

Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who hast thy throne above the cherubim, thou alone art God over all the kingdoms of the world, heaven and earth are of thy fashioning.

O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.

Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam, et audi; aperi, Domine, oculos tuos, et vide: et audi omnia verba Sennacherib, quæ misit ad blasphemandum Deum viventem.

Give ear, Lord, and listen; open thy eyes, Lord, and see; do not let Sennacherib’s words go unheard, these blasphemies he has uttered against the living God.

Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God.

Vere enim, Domine, desertas fecerunt reges Assyriorum terras, et regiones earum,

It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have brought ruin on whole nations, and the lands they lived in,

For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries.

et dederunt deos earum igni: non enim erant dii, sed opera manuum hominum, lignum et lapis, et comminuerunt eos.

and thrown their gods into the fire; but these were in truth no gods; men had made them, of wood or stone, and men could break them.

And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces.

Et nunc, Domine Deus noster, salva nos de manu ejus, et cognoscant omnia regna terræ quia tu es Dominus solus.

Now it is for thee, O Lord our God, to rescue us from the invader, and shew all the kingdoms of the world there is no other Lord, save thee.

And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord.

Et misit Isaias, filius Amos, ad Ezechiam, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Pro quibus rogasti me de Sennacherib, rege Assyriorum,

Then Isaias, son of Amos, sent word to Ezechias, A message to thee from the Lord, the God of Israel, in answer to the prayer thou hast made to him about Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.

And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians:

hoc est verbum quod locutus est Dominus super eum: Despexit te et subsannavit te, virgo filia Sion; post te caput movit, filia Jerusalem.

This is what the Lord has to say of him: See how she mocks thee, flouts thee, Sion, the virgin city! Jerusalem, proud maiden, follows thee with her eyes and tosses her head in scorn.

This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee.

Cui exprobrasti? et quem blasphemasti? et super quem exaltasti vocem, et levasti altitudinem oculorum tuorum? ad Sanctum Israël.

So thou wouldst hurl insults, and blaspheme, and talk boastfully, and brave it out with disdainful looks, against whom? Against the Holy One of Israel.

Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

In manu servorum tuorum exprobrasti Domino, et dixisti: In multitudine quadrigarum mearum ego ascendi altitudinem montium juga Libani; et succidam excelsa cedrorum ejus, et electas abietes illius, et introibo altitudinem summitatis ejus, saltum Carmeli ejus.

In thy name, these servants of thine have hurled insults at the Lord. It was thy dream that thou hadst scaled, with those chariots of thine, the mountain heights, the slopes of Lebanon; and now thou wouldst cut down its tall cedars, its noble fir-trees, till thou couldst reach the very summit of the ascent, the garden its woods enclosed.

By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord: and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, and will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its Carmel.

Ego fodi, et bibi aquam, et exsiccavi vestigio pedis mei omnes rivos aggerum.

Thou wouldst dig wells and drink wherever it pleased thee, thou wouldst dry up, in thy march, the banked channels of the Nile.

I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.

Numquid non audisti quæ olim fecerim ei? Ex diebus antiquis ego plasmavi illud; et nunc adduxi, et factum est in eradicationem collium compugnantium, et civitatum munitarum.

What, hast thou not heard how I dealt with this people in time past? This present design, too, is one I have formed long since, and am now carrying out; such a design as brings with it ruin for the mountain-fastnesses, the walled cities that fight against thee.

Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities should be destroyed.

Habitatores earum breviata manu contremuerunt, et confusi sunt. Facti sunt sicut fœnum agri, et gramen pascuæ, et herba tectorum, quæ exaruit antequam maturesceret.

Sure enough, they were overawed and discomfited, the puny garrisons that held them; frail as meadow grass or mountain pasturage, or the stalks that grow on the house-top, withering before they can ripen.

The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe.

Habitationem tuam, et egressum tuum, et introitum tuum cognovi, et insaniam tuam contra me.

But I am watching thee where thou dwellest, thy comings and goings, thy raving talk against me.

I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

Cum fureres adversum me, superbia tua ascendit in aures meas. Ponam ergo circulum in naribus tuis, et frenum in labiis tuis, et reducam te in viam per quem venisti.

Yes, I have listened to the ravings of thy pride against me, and now a ring for thy nose, a twitch of the bridle in thy mouth, and back thou goest by the way thou didst come.

When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

Tibi autem hoc erit signum: comede hoc anno quæ sponte nascuntur, et in anno secundo pomis vescere; in anno autem tertio seminate et metite, et plantate vineas, et comedite fructum earum.

Here is a test for thee, Ezechias, of the truth of my prophecy; this year thou must be content to eat the aftergrowth, and next year wild things shall be thy food; in the third year you may sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

Et mittet id quod salvatum fuerit de domo Juda, et quod reliquum est, radicem deorsum, et faciet fructum sursum:

A remnant of Juda’s race will be saved, and this remnant will strike root deep in earth, bear fruit high in air;

And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward:

quia de Jerusalem exibunt reliquiæ, et salvatio de monte Sion: zelus Domini exercituum faciet istud.

yes, it is from Jerusalem the remnant will come, from mount Sion that we shall win salvation; so tenderly he loves us, the Lord of hosts.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and salvation from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

Propterea hæc dicit Dominus de rege Assyriorum: Non intrabit civitatem hanc, et non jaciet ibi sagittam, et non occupabit eam clypeus, et non mittet in circuitu ejus aggerem.

This, then, is what the Lord has to tell thee about the king of the Assyrians; he shall never enter this city, or shoot an arrow into it; no shield-protected host shall storm it, no earthworks shall be cast up around it.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.

In via qua venit, per eam revertetur, et civitatem hanc non ingredietur, dicit Dominus.

He will go back the way he came, and never enter into this city, the Lord says;

By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.

Et protegam civitatem istam, ut salvem eam propter me, et propter David, servum meum.

I will keep guard over this city and deliver it, for my own honour and for the honour of my servant David.

And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

Egressus est autem angelus Domini, et percussit in castris Assyriorum centum octoginta quinque millia. Et surrexerunt mane, et ecce omnes cadavera mortuorum.

It was after this that an angel of the Lord went out on his errand, and smote down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp; when morning came, and men were astir, nothing was to be seen but the corpses of the dead.

And the angel of the Lord went out, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.

Et egressus est, et abiit, et reversus est Sennacherib, rex Assyriorum, et habitavit in Ninive.

So Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, broke up camp, and took the road, and was gone; nor did he leave Ninive again.

And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive.

Et factum est, cum adoraret in templo Nesroch deum suum, Adramelech et Sarasar, filii ejus, percusserunt eum gladio, fugeruntque in terram Ararat; et regnavit Asarhaddon, filius ejus, pro eo.

And one day, when he was at worship in the temple of his god Nosroch, two sons of his, Adramelech and Sarasar, drew their swords on him, and so escaped into the land of Ararat; and the kingdom passed to his son Asarhaddon.

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.